Country House Collections

Estates of Art

By: Nicholas James, Marina Vaizey

Narrated by: Verona Westbrook

Country House Collection documents the development of stately homes in England with a trajectory from Medieval times to a burgeoning of the neo-classical style of building in the early to mid 18th-century. The grand houses that appeared in rural locations manifested statements of a ruling class composed of self-made landowners, merchants and families of historic lineage and title. Often built on a vast scale such as Cliveden or Blenheim Palace, the grand residences were set in a beautifully conceived landscape, and contained a wealth of personal collections: artefacts, objects, and furniture, often gathered in cultural tours of Italy and European capitals. The families often passed their property and land to succeeding generations, preserving a historic lineage. The pattern of these stately homes echo Royal Palaces and Residences that form the bedrock and lodestone of the continuing social order. The neo-classical style made a civilized answer beyond the brutal power struggles of early medieval barons, whose castles and fortresses’ formidable buttressed towers still dominate the English landscape.

Nicholas James 06/21

Royal Palaces and Residences

Introduction by Marina Vaizey

Royal Collections—why are they important parts of our national and international life? First they embody, literally, century upon century of history; they show international connections, changing aesthetic taste, the evolution of relationships both national and international, and in the opening out of such collections to a national and international public, they also embody the changing relationships of the royal family to the public. The family and its history is no longer isolated and barricaded but part of the national fabric, from the opening of the gardens of Buckingham Palace to the varied royal art galleries and publicly accessible royal palaces.

MV 06/2021

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